Four stars. Rated R, for violence and relentless profanity
By Derrick Bang
This one’s not for the faint of
heart.
Writer/director Martin McDonagh’s
savagely dark assault on mainstream sensibilities is both a blistering
burlesque and a painfully raw depiction of despair, frustration and unchecked
rage. Much of this film obviously cannot — should not — be taken seriously;
unfortunately, quite a lot also feels excruciatingly real.
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| Although troubled by the rather drastic step that Mildred (Frances McDormand) has taken, in an effort to achieve closure regarding her daughter's long-unsolved murder, Police Chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) checks his emotions while explaining the frustrating circumstances behind the case. |
And not all that unlikely.
The film is powered by Frances McDormand’s
sensational starring performance, an acting tour-de-force even more persuasive
— more believably, subtly grounded, even within exaggerated circumstances —
than her Academy Award-winning work in 1996’s Fargo. And I never, ever
expected to write those words.
Her Mildred Hayes is wracked with
grief and unresolved anger: a single mother pushed to the edge by her teenage
daughter’s gruesome rape/murder, which remains unsolved after seven months. Fed up with what she perceives as
investigative apathy, Mildred purchases messages on three long-unused
billboards standing alongside the quiet road leading to her home.
The three-part message is a direct
and controversial challenge to local police chief William Willoughby (Woody
Harrelson).
Many of the residents in bucolic
Ebbings regard Mildred’s provocative act as profoundly unfair. Tellingly,
Willoughby isn’t all that bothered. But second-in-command Officer Jason Dixon
(Sam Rockwell), an immature, racist, violence-prone mama’s boy who wouldn’t
know prudence if she kissed him, gets ugly. Repeatedly.
The subsequent unraveling of
McDonagh’s vicious narrative is laden with revelations, which is much of the
fun: You simply cannot anticipate the twists and U-turns, and there’s no sense
trying.
Casting is the first surprise,
because Harrelson has built his career — in great measure — on a series of
unbalanced and even dangerous misanthropes; we naturally expect the same here.
Yet it quickly becomes apparent that Willoughby is the story’s most rational,
thoughtful and level-headed character: a decent man who wins our respect,
because he responds to Mildred not with hostility, but kindness and sympathy.
It’s an absolutely cold case, he
gently explains, after the billboards go up. No telling evidence. No DNA hits. Nada.
Harrelson exudes good-natured
pragmatism and intelligence; he’s genuinely endearing. We all should be so
lucky, to have such a thoughtful police chief.
Mildred is unconvinced;
Willoughby acknowledges this as her right.
